Why I Started Reading E-books on My Smartphone!

E-books vs Printed books is like choosing between Marvel vs DC. I love both of them but maybe inclined to one than the other. Well, I am not going to start a debate here regarding which one is the best option. Rather, I am simply going to describe to you why I have started reading e-books and why I am using my smartphone instead of Kindle or any tablet device. But before digging into that, let me give you some insights into the popularity of both printed books and e-books.

Are Printed Books Losing Popularity?

A big NO! Not at all, printed books have lost their appeal. Not yet! In fact, they are still more popular than e-books. 

According to Statista, in the United States where e-books are generally popular compared to other countries, more people have bought printed books than e-books last year. 

There are of course many reasons behind that. However, I am going to tell you some points that I have identified by asking my friends and family and also through my online research. Here they are:

• The smell: The first thing, that most of the people I have asked why they like printed books, said that they love the smell of the printed book, especially the new ones. Actually, I love that too. I guess there are not many people in the world who will not agree on this point.
• Decorating your home: Humans, by nature, are collectors. We all have some kind of collection hobby, don’t we?  And also, we tend to publicize our collections. We all have a friend or a family member who has a big bookshelf at their home and that somehow shows a sense of aristocracy. Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers’ Association in the U.K., said in an interview with CNBC, “The book lover loves to have a record of what they’ve read, and it’s about signaling to the rest of the world.”
• Good for eyesight: This feedback I have received mostly from my older family members. Since, to read e-books, you need to look at some kind of screen which is emitting lights continuously, it may be harmful to our eyesight. Though I don’t totally agree on this point as modern technology has gone so far and continuously been upgrading for our comfort. Also, the eyesight problem can happen even with the paper books if you read them in a low light environment.

Why I Started Reading E-books On My Smartphone 

Enough bragging about printed books! Now let me tell you why I have started reading e-books on my handphone and how it has increased my reading hours. I have been using iPhone for the last couple of years and using the iBooks app which is the default for iOS users. But, please don’t stop reading now if you are using an android since this article is not about which phone is the best for reading ebooks. As long as, you have a smartphone in your hand, you are good to go. 

Like most of you, I am also fond of printed books. First time I have started reading ebooks after moving to Singapore. Because, it is difficult to find a printed book in the Bengali language, which is my mother tongue. To satisfy my appetite for reading Bengali books, I downloaded some pdf version books from online to my PC. So, I could only read those books when I was at my desk. Not so efficient! 

Then one Monday morning, while commuting to my office, I was reading the newspaper on my phone, and an ad for ebooks caught my eyes. I suddenly realized why I had not been reading books on my phone! Straightaway, I downloaded some ebooks that I had already bought printed versions of but never could manage the time to read them. And guess what! I completed reading three ebooks on my phone within two months. Today, my phone data shows that I have been reading books every day for 30 minutes on average, which is quite impressive than nothing at all. 

Should You Buy Kindle or Tablet or Ipad to Read E-books

It depends! If you already have one, then you can obviously use that to read e-books. If you are like me who earns a fixed salary, passes most of the time in office and commuting, then I would not appreciate you buy one. You don’t need a 1200$ (~102,000 BDT) iPad pro nor a 150$ (~12,000 BDT) Kindle just to read ebooks, do you? Even if you already have one, imagine you have to carry that with you every time you go out. Whereas, if you read on your phone, you don’t need to carry an extra device with you. You can read anytime you are commuting or waiting for your always-late friend! I believe this is the most convenient and easiest way to read books which is why ebooks are getting popular day by day.